UNESCO dishes up a Phuket award

Thailand’s Phuket was recently recognised as one of 47 cities under the gastronomy category of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

According to the UNESCO statement, released late last week, there are 47 cities from 33 countries designated as new members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

The results bear witness to the Network’s enhanced geographical representation with 22 cities from countries not previously represented, according to UNESCO general director, Irina Bokova.

“The UNESCO Creative Cities Network represents an immense potential to assert the role of culture as enabler of sustainable development.”

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is categorised into seven creative fields: crafts and folk art; design; film; gastronomy; literature; media arts; and music.

Thailand’s Phuket was recognised under the gastronomy category.

Launched in 2004, the Network now comprises 116 cities worldwide. It aims to foster international cooperation with and between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and cultural vibrancy, the UNESCO said.

47 cities of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network by category

Crafts and Folk Art

• Al-Ahsa (Saudi Arabia)
• Bamiyan (Afghanistan)
• Durán (Ecuador)
• Isfahan (Iran)
• Jaipur (India)
• Lubumbashi (Congo)
• San Cristóbal de las Casas (Mexico)
• Sasayama (Japan)

Design

• Bandung (Indonesia)
• Budapest (Hungary)
• Detroit (The United States)
• Kaunas (Lithuania)
• Puebla (Mexico)
• Singapore (Singapore)

Film

• Bitola (Macedonia)
• Rome (Italy)
• Santos (Brazil)

Gastronomy

• Belém (Brazil)
• Bergen (Norway)
• Burgos (Spain)
• Dénia (Spain)
• Ensenada (Mexico)
• Gaziantep (Turkey)
• Parma (Italy)
• Phuket (Thailand)
• Rasht (Iran)
• Tucson (The United States)

Literature

• Baghdad (Iraq)
• Barcelona (Spain)
• Ljubljana (Slovenia)
• Lviv (Ukraine)
• Montevideo (Uruguay)
• Nottingham (The United Kingdom)
• Óbidos (Portugal)
• Tartu (Estonia)
• Ulyanovsk (Russian Federation)

Media Arts

• Austin (The United States)

Music

• Adelaide (Australia)
• Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal)
• Katowice (Poland)
• Kingston (Jamaica)
• Kinshasa (Congo)
• Liverpool (The United Kingdom)
• Medellín (Colombia)
• Salvador (Brazil)
• Tongyeong (South Korea)
• Varanasi (India)